Banh Mi

Banh Mi

Here comes my play on Banh Mi, the world famous Vietnamese sandwich. I have to say this turned out to be quite amazing for something so simple in preparation. In fact I probably should have made about another 4 loaves worth of it as it was gone in the blink of an eye and that was 3 loaves worth. Literally I cut it up, served it and it was gone. A very good sign of course. You are SO going to like this one.

You can watch the video – but here is the recipe as well for my Banh Mi. I made this for a BBQ on St John’s Island, just off the Singapore mainland. Loads of mates from all over the world, the usual multi-cultural BBQ that we have once a year. Something different I though, and having had amazing Banh Mi recently at a restaurant in Katong, I thought I’d give it a go and make my spin of this wonderful Vietnamese dish.

Here we go – Banh Mi;

1. Cut in half three crusty loaves, and then using your hands create some troughs in the doughy part of the bread;
2. Spread some lightly melted butter in to the troughs (quite thickly);
3. In to each trough add in some prosciutto (or similar cured ham);
4. Add in a good bunch of coriander;
5. Sprinkle over some grated cheese – I used 3 types, parmesan, cheddar and mozzarella;
6. Drizzle a little bit of fish sauce over and now you are finished with the ingredients;
7. Wrap the loves in some silver foil tightly and fold over the ends;
8. I was at the BBQ, so laid this on the griddle for about 10 minutes per side. This will melt the cheese and toast the bread. But you could do the same in the oven at home;
9. Remove the foil and cut to bite sized slices and serve.

Make sure you keep your hands out of the way of the chomping teeth when you serve this. I demand you make this. It was quality. This is so simple and it was just delicious. You just have to try The Semi-Naked Chef’s Banh Mi – ENJOY!!!

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Brian Kennett

Father of 3. All my kids are mixed, with English-Japanese, and English-Filipino - a recipe in the making there. I have been cooking since a small lad, as guided by my Nan and my Mum - gradually that morphed through exposure to Thai cooking from a lovely lady called Da in Margate. I used to hang out in her restaurant and watch the techniques. So the 1+1= greater than 2 occurred - Mum/Nan/Da - off I went in to the world of Asian cuisine. Moving to Asia in early 2000's clearly has brought that on somewhat - we travel continually, and eat locally and therefore have exposure to more and more new things. I have lived my dream and written a cook book whilst here, an amazing experience and all for a good cause too as I raised a lot of money for charity. My blog is now hopefully turning in to book number 2. Watch this space. I hope you enjoy my passion.